The White House is
blocking Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, from testifying
Wednesday before a House of Representatives committee that is investigating how
the Trump administration has handled the COVID-19 pandemic. Fauci’s testimony
would be “counter-productive,” Judd Deere, a White House spokesman said in a
statement.

“While the Trump administration continues its whole-of-government response to
Covid-19, including safely opening up America again, and expediting vaccine
development,” Deere said, “it is counter-productive to have the very
individuals involved in those efforts appearing at congressional
hearings.”

Fauci and U.S. President Donald Trump have not always agreed on how best to
fight the spread of the virus. Fauci, director of the National Institute
of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has criticized the country’s testing
capacity for the virus, calling it “a failing.” Last month, Trump
retweeted a #FireFauci posting from another account, but the White House
insists that the president is not looking to fire highly popular scientist.

More than half of the 50 U.S. governors have taken steps to partially relax
lockdown restrictions, while hoping a spike in infections won’t trigger another
round of business closures.

Other U.S. governors, many of whom are Democrats, are taking a more guarded
approach, trying to balance the need to reopen their state economies with
concerns about the coronavirus.

As some U.S. governors push to relax restrictions after Thursday’s expiration
of White House distancing guidelines, Fauci, warned them to avoid lifting state
limits prematurely.

“Obviously you could
get away with that, but you’re taking a really significant risk,” Fauci said on
CNN.

Another warning came in a report by the University of Minnesota, which said the
pandemic could last two more years. The report, released Thursday by the
university’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, warned that the
U.S. should prepare for a decline in infections followed by a spike as early as
this fall.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted an emergency use
authorization for the antiviral drug remdesivir, clearing the way for more
hospitals to use the drug. Recent clinical data show the drug might be a
promising treatment for the coronavirus.

More than 3.3 million people around the world have been infected with the
coronavirus and nearly 240,000 have died of COVID-19.

In the U.S., there are more than 1.1 million COVID cases and more than 65,000
deaths.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told BBC that it is a tragedy that the
world’s leaders have not been able “to come together to face COVID-19 in an
articulated coordinated way.”

The U.N. estimates that 8% of the world’s population, about 500 million people,
could be forced into poverty by year’s end because of the devastation brought
by the virus.

As countries consider how and when to reopen, India, the world’s second-most populous
country, said Friday it would extend its nationwide lockdown for two more weeks
after May 4. But the country’s ministry of home affairs said “considerable
relaxations” would be allowed in lower-risk areas, including the manufacturing
and distribution of essential goods between states.

Many European countries have begun gradually reopening or have plans to do so
in the coming days. The economy in the eurozone – European countries that use
the common euro currency – shrank a record 3.8% in the first quarter of the
year.

In Britain, health minister Matt Hancock announced Friday the country has hit
its target of carrying out 100,000 COVID-19 tests a day. Prime Minister Boris
Johnson said Thursday that Britain is past the peak of the coronavirus outbreak
and that cases are declining. The coronavirus has killed more than 27,500
people in Britain and infected about 178,700.

Italy, Spain and France on Friday reported declines in deaths from the virus,
down from the peaks of their countries’ outbreaks.

In
Brief:

COVID-19 disrupts May Day demonstrations around the
world Friday

French President Macron called this year’s May Day
observance “like no other”

U.S. workers at Amazon, Target and Instacart protested
working conditions

Italy, Spain and France reported drops Friday in deaths
from the virus

More than 3.3 million people around the world have now
been infected

Almost 240,000 people infected with the virus have died

The U.S. has more than 1.1 million COVID cases and more
than 65,000 deaths

A University of Minnesota report says the pandemic
could last two more years

More than half of U.S. governors have taken steps to
relax lockdown restrictions

The U.S. grants emergency use authorization for the
drug remdesivir to treat COVID-19

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